Detoxification Through Natural Cleaning Products – Step 4

Detoxification Through Natural Cleaning Products – Step 4

Once again, we have to be aware that our skin absorbs anything we put on it. It’s a bit like a huge sponge. I discussed this in the posts “What are the bad things in life to be avoided?” and Detoxification Through Natural Personal Care Products – Step 3. Anything that’s on our skin is also in our bodies. That sounds a bit scary, but this is a very important way that toxins get into our bodies that we generally disregard.

Now let’s consider the cleaning products we bring into our houses. Most likely, these are full of nasty, artificial chemicals and then we spray them around the house and spread them across most surfaces of the house. If we’d sprayed them into the air, then it’s easy to see that we can breath them into our bodies and add to the toxic load we have to deal with. It’s a little more difficult to understand if all we’ve done is use a cleaning liquid to clean off the top of the kitchen bench, for example. We probably think that’s a good thing because now it’s “clean and doesn’t have any germs”. But the reality is we now have a surface covered in artificial chemicals that are toxic to our bodies and are going to enter our bodies because our skin touches those surfaces.

Just like with personal care products (Detoxification Through Natural Personal Care Products – Step 3) there are companies that make natural cleaning products that don’t contain all the nasty, artificial chemicals. Since I’m living in France at the moment, one such company I support is Ecodoo. Some natural cleaning products that I’m using in my house now include;

• window cleaner
• toilet cleaner
• surface cleaner
• dishwashing liquid
• clothes washing liquid
• anti-calcification tablets for the washing machine
• fabric softener
• toilet paper

Not only do these products reduce the number of toxins that we are exposed to, they also reduce the amount of artificial chemicals released into nature. Effectively we’re reducing our own toxic load as well as that of nature. This is something to be really concerned about. As we saw in the movie Vanishing of the Bees, the build-up of toxins in nature is beginning to show serious consequences.

Just as one example, here are some of the benefits of the multi-usage surface cleaner sold by Ecodoo;

• Perfumed only with 100% organic essential oils
• No artificial colorants
• No artificial preservatives
• No parafin
• No silicone
• No artificial emulsifiers (PEG)
• No genetically modified ingredients
• No ammonia or caustic soda
• No phosphates
• No chlorine
• 100% biodegradable

Compare that to what I find on the internet for Ajax All Purpose Cleaner – Lemon;

• Potential health effects (from Ajax’s MSDS)
  • causes eye irritation on direct contact
  • may cause skin irritation upon prolonged use
  • may be harmful is swelled in large doses
• Ingredients
  • On one website, I found this;
    • Water (for Consistency)
    • Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate (Cleaning Agent)
    • C9-11 Pareth-8 (Cleaning and foaming agent)
    • Sodium Laureth (2EO) Sulfate (Cleaning Agent)
    • Citric Acid (pH control)
    • Sodium Bicarbonate (pH control)
    • Preservative (Maintains product freshness)
    • Fragrance (Pleasant Scent)
    • Dye (Color)
    • Polymer (Processing Aid)
  • Then on another site I saw they included ammonia, ethyl alcohol and polyethylene glycol.

For me, the bottom line is why take the risk? Effective, natural cleaning products are available and the manufacturers are completely open about the ingredients they use. It must be safer for us and for the environment to use natural cleaning products.

Home-made cleaning products?

Based on some advice, I tried making my own surface cleaner. All I needed to do was mix half water and half apple cider vinegar, plus a few drops of essential oil to make it smell nice. I find it works pretty well. Sometimes it’s worth asking why we need fancy, expensive chemical to do something relatively simple. So, either homemade or purchased from a responsible, natural cleaning product company will be the range of my choices from now on.

More small steps towards detoxification

This is the fourth post in the following detoxification series. As the posts become live, the links below will become active.

• Detoxification Through Organic Food – Step 1
• Detoxification Through Avoiding Alcohol – Step 2
• Detoxification Through Natural Personal Care Products – Step 3
• Detoxification Through Natural Cleaning Products – Step 4 (this post)
• Detoxification Through Water – Step 5
• Detoxification Through Eliminating Medications – Step 6
• Detoxification Through Eliminating Mercury Fillings – Step 7

I’d love to hear you thoughts and experiences on toxic cleaning products and their alternatives. Please leave a comment. Thanks.